


Wakefulness

by citrinesunset



Category: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell & Related Fandoms, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-11 22:11:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5643724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/citrinesunset/pseuds/citrinesunset
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lady Pole doesn't want to sleep. Arabella doesn't want to leave her embrace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wakefulness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gloriousmonsters](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloriousmonsters/gifts).



> Written for Fandom Stocking, for Maure.

Arabella had hardly been back in London for six months when Lady Pole suggested they leave together.

Arabella objected at first, but she quickly realized that she felt no particular attachment to London. Indeed, the constant attention from people who wanted to know whatever they could about her husband’s disappearance was tiresome.

Meanwhile, the two women had come to rely on each other greatly as friends. They did not discuss their shared ordeal. In fact, each of them had found the one companion in London who would not press them for details.

Lady Pole wanted to go abroad, but Arabella suggested instead that they retire to the country, at her brother’s house. Arabella wanted nothing more than fresh air and quiet.

Sir Walter Pole was agreeable to the plan, all the more so because it gave him comfort to know that his wife would be nearer than if she traveled to the continent. He was presently inclined to give his wife whatever she desired, and though he could not claim that fate had blessed them with a close or intimate marriage, he wished anything that might give her some happiness.

Henry Woodhope, still in awe of having his dead sister back again, was perfectly amenable to having her stay for him for an extended time, and welcomed her dear friend with only slight reservations. He had heard gossip about Lady Pole and imagined that she must be half-mad. But turning her away seemed decidedly un-Christian.

The two women spent a number of happy weeks in the small town where Henry had been given a position. In truth, Arabella was not a woman who was made for constant leisure, and the lack of purpose would have been apt to make her depressed had it not been for the companionship of Lady Pole.

Every night, when the house was quiet, Lady Pole would go to Arabella’s bedroom and the two would talk quietly to avoid waking the other residents. It was late November, and Lady Pole would climb under the covers to share her warmth with Arabella.

One of the lasting effects of Lady Pole's ordeal was that she was resistant to sleep. Her better years felt wasted in a dream, and the sharp clarity of true wakefulness felt like something to cling to. She would stay with Arabella until the latter could no longer hide her yawns, and then she would kiss Arabella softly on the lips before departing for her own bedroom.

Arabella was not oblivious to how her friend's kisses grew deeper and lingered longer. She said nothing, first because it seemed improper to remark on it and then because she knew she could not comment on it without confessing that she enjoyed the soft warmth of Lady Pole's lips against her own.

She said nothing, but each night they kissed a little longer and held each other a little tighter. She moved from gently stroking Lady Pole's arm to moving her hand down the curves of her waist, feeling the smoothness of the flesh under the white nightgown.

Arabella started to feel a tingling down her spine and between her legs that she hadn't experienced much since her supposed death. She hadn't thought much about whether, in Jonathan's indeterminate absence, she might find someone else she might find pleasure with. Or love. But she couldn't imagine herself lacking companionship forever. She had a life, and Jonathan's return was not something she was confident in.

Lady Pole pressed close to her. Her hair was full of static from the dry air and the pillow, and thin hairs floated in the air as though they were alive, tickling Arabella's cheek.

Arabella kissed her, whispering her name, Emma, like it was a spell.

"I think I'm in love with you," Lady Pole said. "Is that mad? Will you hate me?"

"No," Arabella whispered, shaking her head. "Never."

"Do you believe it's possible for a woman to love another woman, like a man?"

"I think we know better than most what's possible."

They held each other until the candle burned down and the cool, blue dawn replaced it.


End file.
